An international plastics treaty could avert a "Silent Spring" for our seas

The Government of Canada has recently revealed a sweeping package of legislative reforms that, if enacted, will significantly change several of Canada’s most important environmental statutes.

For example, in early February 2018, Bill C-68 was introduced for First Reading in Parliament. This Bill is intended to “modernize” the Fisheries Act, and restore “lost protections” in the Act that had been removed by the previous government in 2012.

Posted by Stephanie Woodworth , Graduate student, University of Toronto on November 30, 2017

People of diverse backgrounds, occupations, positions, experiences and histories gathered together for two days in Toronto (ON) for The People’s Great Lakes Summit 2.0: Planning Policy Action to collaborate and network to understand how to restore and protect the Great Lakes. At the event, I immediately flagged the word restore – how can we restore the Great Lakes? To what end are the Great Lakes restored? What does restoration look like?

Last month, I participated in The Great Lakes Chloride Forum in Toronto. Having previously worked on the road salts file more than a decade ago without seeing any meaningful change in public policy, I was cautiously optimistic about this renewed interest. And, having had a discussion about road salts anchored by WWF Canada at The People’s Great Lakes Summit in May, I was excited to see the conversation continue.

Canada is consulting on Budget 2018. So too, is the Canadian Environmental Law Association and 18 other leading Canadian environmental organizations who have headed to Ottawa, as the Green Budget Coalition, to tell our Ministers, Members of Parliament and Privy Council what we recommend for people and the planet in 2018.

Since the 1970s, CELA has called for class action reform to enable individuals to bring civil claims on behalf of large groups of people whose health or property has been adversely affected by polluting activities.

Other stakeholders, academics and entities – including the former Ontario Law Reform Commission – also advocated the need to enhance access to justice, ensure judicial efficiency and deter harmful conduct by establishing an effective class action regime.

Posted by Kathleen Cooper, Senior Researcher and Paralegal on November 2, 2017

RentSafe outreach resources and baseline research reports in production

For people of comfortable means, home typically means well-being and security. Statistics confirm that wealthier people are healthier with lower levels of chronic disease, including precursor conditions like stress and hypertension.

On October 26, the Ministry of Energy released the Ontario’s 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP). While there was no mention of building new nuclear reactors, the Ontario government maintains its commitment to refurbishing ten nuclear units at Darlington and Bruce, and committing to keeping Pickering open until 2024. Absent was any discussion about nuclear waste and storage.

I have my hands in the river My feet up on the banks Looked up to the Lord above And said hey man thanks.

“New Orleans is Sinking”, The Tragically Hip (1989)

In the days after Canadian icon Gord Downie passed away, numerous heart-felt tributes praising Gord were expressed across the country by the Prime Minister, politicians, musicians, First Nations representatives, and countless other persons from all walks of life.

Since 2001, “Waste Reduction Week” (October 16-20) has been coordinated by non-governmental organizations across Canada to highlight the national need to reduce the volume of waste being generated in communities and sectors throughout the country.

For many decades, the independent Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has held public hearings and rendered binding decisions on appeals, applications and other matters arising under numerous provincial statutes, including the Planning Act.

One of my heroes died last week. Dr. Herbert Needleman has inspired me since the early 1980s when as an undergraduate I first learned of his work on the effects of lead on children’s brains. His groundbreaking study published in 1979 measured lead in the shed baby teeth of low-income children, finding an association between what were then considered to be very low levels of lead exposure and negative impacts on brain development and functioning.

If the recommendations of a Parliamentary committee are adopted by the House of Commons, Canada will move closer to enshrining environmental rights, substituting safer alternatives, and strengthening protection of vulnerable populations in the regulation of toxic substances.

The recommendations are contained in a 162-page report released by the House Standing Environment Committee following a year long review of Canada's primary law on toxic substances, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Posted by Anastasia M. Lintner, Special Projects Counsel, Healthy Great Lakes on June 9, 2017

Effective August 1, 2017, bottled water facilities will be subject to a significantly higher fee for the water they pump from Ontario’s groundwater sources – going from $3.71 to $503.71 per million litres. While Canadian Environmental Law Association is encouraged by the government’s commitment to full-cost recovery in this instance, we remain deeply disappointed by the lack of progress toward expanding the water charges program.

CELA has a longstanding and valuable relationship with CAREX Canada, the Vancouver-based national surveillance project engaged in estimating occupational and environmental exposure to carcinogens. Among the on-line tools on the CAREX website is e-RISK, an interactive – and recently updated - tool that lets site users explore the excess cancer risk associated with exposures to carcinogens in the enironment.